The Platte County Citizen

A hearing is scheduled this week for the man accused of causing the death of West Platte High School football coach Nate Danneman.

Carl D. Braddock, 64, of Geneva, Neb. was charged in February with one misdemeanor count of careless and imprudent driving in the April 19, 2017 crash on Interstate 29 near Camden Point.

Carl Braddock

Braddock was taken into custody Thursday, March 15 and posted a $10,000 bond on Tuesday, March 27. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and was scheduled to appear before Platte County Circuit Court judge Dennis Eckold Wednesday, April 4.

According to court documents, Braddock was behind the wheel of a 2014 Frieghtliner tractor trailer, traveling northbound on I-29 in the right lane. He lost control of the truck and traveled off the right shoulder. He overcorrected, and the vehicle veered into the left lane and then the median, striking the cable barrier and entering the southbound lanes. The truck overturned and struck two vehicles, with debris hitting a third vehicle, and came to rest blocking both southbound lanes.

Danneman, 37, who was driving a 2014 Ford Focus in the southbound lanes, with his young daughter in the car, was found dead on the scene by Platte County deputies. The 4-year-old girl as well as two people in other vehicles suffered minor injuries in the crash.

“I was heading northbound in the slow lane,” Braddock said in a written statement provided to police. “I caught dog out of the corner of my eye. She was looking at me and I asked her, ‘what?’ I put my eye back on the road and I started swerving. I saw traffic coming towards me in the southbound side. After everything was done I noticed two automobiles. The guy who cut the rubber piece so I could get out.”

Braddock’s pet dog was in the truck with him at the time. He also admitted he was not wearing his seat belt, or the glasses he was required to wear as a restriction on his driver’s license.

Danneman’s wife, Tabitha, filed a personal injury suit Feb. 8 against Braddock, his employer Friend Frieghtways of Friend, Neb. and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. A docket call in that case has been set for Friday, May 11 before Platte County Circuit judge Thomas Fincham.

Danneman’s death sparked a public outpouring of grief in the Weston community, with his funeral services held at Rudolph Eskridge Stadium at West Platte High School.